Getting A Handle On Cable Tangles

One of my biggest pet peeves is having a big spaghetti mess of cables behind my desk or anywhere near me in the home or office. For years I used cable ties for my cable management needs, then after awhile I moved onto Velcro since it’s reusable and can be undone quickly.

The next step up is Monster’s Cable It, which I discovered at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) last month. It was among seven Monster products that were honored with the 2008 Design and Engineering Awards by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA). It’s a unique product that pulls your cables together into a sheath-type of contraption.

It’s incredibly simple to use, and much faster than using cable ties or velcro. Once you have your cables gathered up, you snap open your Cable It, place those cables in and zip it back up with the included EZ Cable Zipper. If you need to take it apart and add more cords, it unzips just as easy. It literally takes seconds to clean up your cables with this. Additionally, if you need to adjust the length of your Cable It, you can cut it to length with a regular scissors.

Cable It comes in three sizes - small (3-5 cables), medium (5-8 cables) or large (8-12 cables). For small jobs to big projects, the lengths vary from eight to 50 feet, and available colors are black, gray or white. Prices range from $12.95 to $99.95 at www.monstercable.com.

Portable Charger For Your Toys

Nearly two years ago I wrote about Voxred’s original Turbo Charge and its capability to save just about any dying cell phone. As an update to this, the next generation TC2 was at CES this year, and thankfully after stopping by their booth, I was handed a review unit to play with. It saved the iPhone a few times from dying as we were walking around the show floor. (Note the battery was not low from me forgetting to charge it. The dying battery was a result from jabbering on the phone, surfing the web and checking e-mail multiple times).

The TC2 features the Algor Chip, which regulates the flow of energy to your battery. Because of this chip, it’s guaranteed not to overcharge or damage your device. A regular charger would send a full charge to your battery, risking damage or fire to your device.

It’s powered by two AA batteries and can give your device up to three charges. There’s an LED light on it that you can sort of use as a flashlight if needed. The battery saving on/off switch has a warning system that tells you when it’s time to replace the batteries.

Perfect for when you’re traveling or on the road often, the TC2 is compatible with various cell phones, iPhone, iPod touch, iPods or portable gaming devices (PSP, Game Boy, Advance SP, Micro, DS or DS Lite).

Find the Turbo Charge TC2 for $24.95 (one adaptor) or $29.95 (seven adaptors) at www.turbocellcharge.com. Each comes with two AA batteries, and additional adaptors can be purchased on the website as well.